What Is Goldenseal Used for Today?
Goldenseal contains a substance called berberine that has been found to inhibit or kill many microorganisms, including fungi, protozoa and bacteria. 1,2,10-14,22 On this basis, contemporary herbalists often use goldenseal as a topical antibiotic for skin wounds, as well as to treat viral mouth sores and superficial fungal infections, such as athlete’s foot . However, there is no direct scientific evidence that goldenseal is effective for any of these purposes. Note that goldenseal probably is not likely to work as an oral antibiotic, because the blood levels of berberine that can be achieved by taking goldenseal orally are far too low to matter. 3 However, goldenseal could theoretically be beneficial in treating sore throats and diseases of the digestive tract (such as infectious diarrhea ) because it can contact the affected area directly. Similarly, since berberine is concentrated in the bladder, goldenseal could be useful for bladder infections. Nonetheless, again there is as yet no
